Most automotive doors have a body envelope created by two generally-parallel spaced-apart inner and outer door panels. A top surface of the inner and outer door panels is often referred to as the belt line. An extendable panel (pane) of window glass is nested between the door panels. A window regulator is provided for selectively moving the glass panel in and out of the door envelope to open and close the window opening of the door. In many vehicles, the vehicle door has a door frame above the belt line for enclosing the window opening and supporting the glass panel in the uppermost position. The door frame has a seal along the top, typically called weather stripping or weather strip, which is connected with the door window frame to seal the lateral and upper edges of the window glass when the window glass is in its uppermost position.
The front and rear door window openings typically have one lateral boundary formed by a post which is adjacent to the B-pillar of the vehicle. The post is typically fixed to the door and typically has a longitudinal axis which is parallel with the axis of travel of the window panel. The post is typically a channel-shaped member having a head which aligns the lateral edge of the window glass panel. The post has two legs which extend in the fore and aft direction of the vehicle. The legs of the post align the window panel in a transverse direction of the axis of travel of the window panel. An interior leg of the post is adjacent to the interior of the vehicle and prevents the window glass from being pushed into the interior of the door opening. The top of the post is connected with or extends to a header region of the door window frame which provides an upper border of the window opening. The header region of the front window frame is joined with an A-pillar region of the door opening. The header region of the rear window frame is joined with a C-pillar region of the window opening (in some vehicles an opera window). Prior to the present invention, typical automotive sealing systems for door openings had combinations of extrusions which were molded together at the intersections between the header portion and pillar portions of the window opening. The extrusions also had dissimilar crosssections. Gaps and mismatches at the intersecting transition areas allowed infiltration of noise, water and dust. It would be desirable to provide a seal which would eliminate the gaps and mismatches at the transition areas.
In the past, most weather stripping has been supplied in one color, that being black. In recent years attempts have been made to improve the aesthetics of vehicles. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a seal which can be color coordinated or color matched with the color of the interior of the vehicle.